Earlier this week, I was one of three people invited to sit on a panel, at an event at Johnson County Community College to answer audience questions following a showing of the movie PlanEAT. After the movie, and in response to an audience question, the dietitian on the panel told the audience that B-12 was not made by plants, and that only animals made it and this to her was evidence that a totally plant-based diet was not natural. Although she did state that she thought most people would benefit from eating less animal foods, she also believed that we should still eat a bit of meat and dairy -- and that our need for B-12 was evidence of this.

As I stated at the event, B12 is actually not made by plants or animals, but rather by bacteria. When animals eat plants with soil still adhering, they may consume some B-12 containing bacteria. When they drink from water containing bacteria, they may also obtain B12. Animals eating unhygienically can thus concentrate B-12 in their bodies -- and this is the source of B-12 in animal products. Humans long ago likely obtained B-12 like this too -- prior to our chlorinating water, and attempting to thoroughly clean all our vegetables.

As we age, there are many things that can diminish our ability to obtain B-12 from food -- including, reduced stomach acid, leaky gut, and some autoimmune diseases, but taking B-12 as a sublingual (under the tongue) can bypass these absorption problems. Because a B-12 deficiency puts us at greater risk of dementia and other neurological problems and cardiovascular events, without any other obvious symptoms, this is something we want to make sure we are adequately supplied with. the Institute of Medicine actually recommends that ALL PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 50 supplement B-12 -- so its not just those on plant-based diets that need to pay attention to B-12.